Kirsty Courtnage, a resident of Hawthorne Road, Woking found the hamster walking along the pavement at around 6pm on Saturday March 12. The white and brown hamster has been named Houdini by Kirsty on account of the fact it has escaped certain death wandering the streets. Kirsty said that she noticed it after answering the door. She said: “I was standing at the door and saw the hamster wandering along the pavement at the end of my drive.” Kirsty, who was cooking dinner at the time, went back inside to get an empty saucepan in which she collected the hamster. She knocked on all her neighbours’ doors to see if it belonged to anybody but as nobody claimed it Kirsty took the hamster home with her. Kirsty put up posters around the Barnsbury estate in an attempt to find the owner and one of them was seen by Barnsbury Junior School pupil Eleanor Brookes, aged 12. Eleanor has her own pet hamster and she contacted Kirsty offering to look after Houdini. As Kirsty already had her own collection of pets, owning a dog, a cat, a fish, a guinea pig and a rabbit, she agreed Eleanor could look after Houdini until the owner was found. Eleanor’s mother Sarah said: “One would assume that it escaped locally but apparently hamsters can travel five miles in a night.” Houdini has been registered with the RSPCA’s missing animals hotline so if the owner phoned they would know their pet had been found and where it was. Anyone who believes this is their hamster should call Kirsty on 07710 834085 or the RSPCA on 0870 555 5999.